Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 4/5

Who doesn’t like the first three Indiana Jones movies?  Communists, maybe?  The “new” George Lucas, obviously.  Other than that, no one.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is the second movie produced in the franchise, but the first chronologically, occurring a few years before Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Personally, this is the first Indy movie that I ever watched, it being taped off of TV and the hand-written title looking more like “tempok of doom” (so, of course, I still call it tempok of doom privately).  It scared the bejeezus out of me.  My brother used to be able to make me run screaming from a room by putting his hand on my chest and chanting, “A moom shi bah.”  

This was the first time I watched the movie since I stopped being afraid of the dark (a couple of months ago?).  It is widely thought to be the weakest of the original three, much like Empire Strikes Back in the Star Wars series.  But I think it’s given too little credit.  Short Round is quite possibly the best sidekick in any movie of the type, and the moment where Indiana is trying to get Willie to save him from the spiked ceiling makes me laugh every time (“We are going to die >:(”  )  

The acting and the relationships are very good in this, and the action is of the “edge-of-your-seat” variety, perhaps better than Last Crusade, however I find the story very weak.  We know he needs to save the stone, but the urgency kind of goes out the window when they get to the temple.

I will probably flesh this review out after reviewing the other two in the trilogy.

Overall:  4/5 I really liked it.  It is an enjoyable movie, not my favorite, but a solid watch, and a necessary chapter to the Indiana Jones saga and character.